[bbdream8]

Originally Posted by magi13

Good reminder, especially for men in general. Women on the other hand are good multi taskers.

Hi magi,

I noticed that too! I got one question over here, is it possible that woman can concentrate on work when they are multi tasking or their multi tasking ability is only limited to daily activities? I noticed that woman are great at multi tasking in daily activities but I do not know does that apply to work.

Originally Posted by Kindred

I find multitasking terribly inefficient in terms of time usage. Working on tasks in parallel requires switching, and switching costs time. On top of that, every time I switch tasks I have to recall everything I was doing to get back into my flow. Multitasking doesn't boost working speed either. It just spreads out work across several tasks.

That's not to say multitasking is all bad. There are times when multitasking is useful too. For example, when I'm debugging programs, I sometimes have to test a program for problems and reprogram it at the same time step-by-step. Trying to fix all the bugs at once through single-tasking is likely to introduce unforeseen bugs and cause more problems than it fixes.

I say it depends on what you're doing.

Hi Kindred,

Got to agree with you on this point. I will choose which approach to use in different scenarios but whenever I am working on work that requires concentration, single tasking is the way to go.

Originally Posted by Eric Roosevelt

In my experience it's best to focus on what you're doing, but try to remain flexible in the face of new information. However, it's been said many times that the sign of genius is being able to hold many contradictory thoughts in your head at the same time. That may or may not be the type of multi-tasking you're reffering to, but it's a useful skill at the very least.

Hi Eric,

I do prefer with the approach of focusing on what I am doing in the present. That approach help me to get more things done.

Originally Posted by TreyBaird

As far as the question of whether women are better multi-taskers than men, I'm not so sure. I think that women are more in touch with their subconcious mind and their muscle memory more so than men are. I think that for the most part, women tend to go on auto-pilot more than men. With this in mind, a woman might multi-task more often, and think less about doing it than a man would. Now, someone who makes a concious effort to be a good multi-tasker, whether they be male or female, might possess the ability to get good at it.

As for whether or not multi-tasking is more efficient than single-tasking, it really depends on how you define it. I have found that I am most productive when I focus at a single task at a time, but give myself permission to switch tasks if my energy level fizzles, or if I get bored with it. I like to keep a notepad in front of me, and keep track of what I have accomplished, so I am able to do this.

The idea is that if you are single-tasking until the job is done, you may not be doing a very efficient job. You may need a fresher mindset, or a break from it.

Hi Trey,

Thanks for the point and taking a break will definitely help to refresh the mind and thus resulting in a better quality work. There is no point in sawing a tree with a blunt saw. Sharpening the saw will help to make us more efficient.

Cheers
Vincent
Personal Development Blogger